Utopia

Hi, if anyone who is reading this doesn't know me, my name is Craig Merten. Shawn and I have been best friends since god knows when, I believe 8th grade. Though we may butt heads some times we always come out of every discussion motivated and enlightened. While Shawn has been more of the "spiritual leader", being as he loves to dabble in such things as Philosophy and Psychology, I have always considered my self more of a Da Vinci in the sense that I love to fix what's wrong. My brain never stops thinking of ways to improve and re invent things to make them more efficient or faster. I spent most of my childhood building remote controlled boats and explosives (Shawn assisted in some of those experiences lol). Something I've been really tied up in for the past year is sustainable living. I feel that if we want to preserve this earth we have to stop desecrating on it. Recently I've been inventing a new type of wind turbine but I have also been playing with other things like solar hot water heaters and and carbon fiber, vacuum sealed windows and doors and Magnetically Levitating Trains. Most recently I've been envisioning a new type of living. And by new I should say old because it does incorporate somethings even ancient man figured out but modern man has lost sight of. My goal is to create basically a city, but entirely self sustaining. This city has its own trains, grows its own food, has its own currency's (notice currency's is plural), treats it's own waste water, and manufactures it's own goods. And while you may have envisioned some back wards, hilly billy, you got a perdy mouth type town, it is to the contrary. All homes would be wired with technological gadgetry, all power would be renewable, all food organic. The manufacturing would be state of the art, laser cutters and robotic welding machines, but most of all, all it's citizens would be happy. (And psychedelic drugs would not only be legal but plentiful) Work would be fun and all the neighbors would get together and cook and drink and smoke and gather around the campfires and just enjoy existing. We do this all the time in college, get drunk and have amazing times with just 4 or 5 people. But why does this have to end? If any body has any ideas or questions, whether it be economical or political or technological, please let me know. I'm keeping track of everything and would like to someday put it all together!!

Digital Nation: Premiers Next Tuesday on PBS

Douglas Rushkoff, a digital media guru and writer of Life Incorporated, a man you've all heard me rave about for quite some time now has a new documentary airing this upcoming Tuesday on PBS called Digital Nation!

I've included a preview of the documentary below, and let me say it looks fascinating! To give a short description: The documtary traverses the ever changing and relatively new landscape of the online, digital universe. They explore the way technology is shaping our lives in the 21st century, video game addiction, second life games where people meet in virtual worlds, the constant connectivity of email and social networking sites on the internet and a whole lot more!

The filmakers said they wanted to focus on the issues, and let you decide whether this new change in human culture is for the better or for the worse, and I have to say that I am on the fence about this one. At times I feel that the new networking technology of the internet using sites like Facebook bring us closer together as people, and at other times I feel they distract us from the simpler form of human life that existed only 10 or so years ago.

Rushkoff talks about how the technology that was onced used to seperate us, (putting televisions in every room and cutting off communication between family and friends) is now bringing us back together in ways that we could have never imagined even a decade ago. But where things get really interesting is pondering what the next decade will be like. If we couldn't imagine being where we are today just a few years ago, how can we possibly try to imagine what even the near term future will look like for us, especially as exponential growth rate of technology keeps our knowledge and information expanding at an ever faster rate, when measured in linear terms.

At this point I think the best way to look at it, is with a smile. Let's just hope that the technology really is re-connecting us and making life simpler, because at this point in the American way of life, I really think that things are fast enough. But don't take my word for it, check out the clip below, and let me know what you think:

This is a link to the PBS site of Digital Nation: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/


Until next time, I'll see you on the Interweb!

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My favorite Economist: Marc Faber says, "We're All Doomed"

"I admire your optimism" says economist Marc Faber to a Senior Risk Analyst from Moody's, a research company that gives highly regarded financial ratings of commercial and government entities, which are largely used by the investment world.

Marc Faber has a Ph.D in economics from the University of Zurich, he is an investor and writer based out of Thailand, and famed for his famous contrarian investment style. He is my favorite economist, you can watch him regularly on CNBC or catch his clips on youtube. Although he is famed for being a contrarian, I like him because he's been right on the money since the recent economic meltdown began.

Below I've posted a recent clip of Marc Faber while he was a guest host on CNBC, during the interview with Anthony Thomas from Moody's, Faber giggles after the Moody's risk analyst gives a ridiculously short-sighted view of the current economic situation. Watch the clip, you'll find Faber very entertaining as he always wears a smile and is known for laughing joyously as the mainstream reporters around him act as though they don't understand the Free Market Economic perspective from which Faber is a student.

Although this isn't my favorite clip of Faber, I chose to post this particular video, because of Faber's profound declaration that the U.S. is doomed! Faber is often times known as Dr. Doom, but I believe that his viewpoints are more realistic than pessimistic. I also believe that it is important to take in the facts, no matter how sad they may be, in order to most effectively plan how to create an optimistic future.

Check the clip out below, I'm sure you'll be seeing more of Faber on my new Blog here as time goes on:

Until next time, I'll see you on the Interweb!

First Post

Welcome everyone to my new blog. I asked if anyone would like to see me start a blog page, I got some positive responses, so I'm going for it. If you found this blog independently, I also started up a youtube channel a short while ago, you can find that at: www.youtube.com/user/smkuhner .

My name is Shawn, I just recently turned 21, I'm an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin Madison studying both philosophy and psychology. My future aspirations are wide and varying. I'm considering going to graduate school to get a Ph.D. psychology, I've also considered going for psychiatry. I've also considered the Teach for America program, where you teach inner-city kids. Other possibilities include journalism, politics, farming... and sometimes I just want to climb the Himalyan mountains to practice Buddhism.

The truth is that I don't know what type of career my life will lead me towards... and I feel like that is a good thing. I do know that my life will lead me towards great friends, family, building a community together, and helping change the hearts and minds of those closest to me.

Life is about inspiration and I hope that together we can connect in order to inspire a better future, a better you, a better me, and more than anything love and happiness.

I'm looking forward to hearing all of your thoughts, I really want everyone to get active on this Blog, that's the reason I'm starting it! Don't be bashful, tell me your thoughts and feelings, and we will have ourselves a nice little time on here!

I'll see you on the Interweb!